In other news, it was reported that China’s Alibaba Group Holding Limited will acquire a 33% equity interest in small and microlender Ant Financial. Hexindai Inc., a consumer lending marketplace in China, announced a RMB1 billion line of credit agreements with Ping An Bank and Xiamen International Bank. In the U.S., it was reported that small business lender Kabbage is expanding its business by offering credit lines of up to $250,000. It was also reported that SoFi ordered the lay off of ~65 employees from its mortgage lending unit. This comes after reports earlier this month that Twitter COO Anthony Noto was to become SoFi’s new CEO. Banco Popular relaunched their Eloan brand (initially launched in 1997) to compete with online lenders and banks like Goldman Sachs’ Marcus, and will initially make consumer loans available in all U.S. states except Massachusetts.

Read our latest Industry Profile. We featured Martin Chorzempa, a research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit institution focused on the study of international economic policy. He’s been on the front lines of Chinese fintech and economic research.